Scrolling Beyond the Stereotypes: Disability, Identity and Self-advocacy in New Media

Abstract

The representation of disability has experienced a significant transformation in the digital age, particularly following the emergence of new media platforms that enable persons with disabilities to advocate for and represent themselves.
“We, the ones who are challenged, need to be heard, to be seen not as a disability, but as a person who has, and will continue to bloom, to be seen not only as a handicap, but as a well-intact human being.” – Robert M. Hensel
The trajectory of disability representation has shifted from the medical model, which viewed disabled bodies through the lens of sympathy, tragedy, dependency, and marginality, to the relational model of disability, which emphasises individuality and identity. New media spaces such as social media, blogs, online digital storytelling, podcasts, and online campaigns have made room for self-advocacy and inclusion, developing a stance that moves away from externally constructed narratives toward forms of self-authoring advocacy. In this paper, we discuss how new media transform the cultural portrayal of disability by prioritising agency, visibility, and collective resistance. This paper uses Silvan Tomkins’s theory of Affect as a critical framework to examine the movement of affective response in new media representations from sympathy to empathy and finally to celebration.
The paper uses qualitative methods to look at how digital spaces represent and perceive disability. It examines the changing language, hashtag activism, autobiography, awareness campaigns, blogs, vlogs, and the role of community.
New Media creates a space where disability is not just depicted but is also contested, produced, and performed. New media’s emphasis on self-representation and advocacy allows disability to be defined from the disabled person’s perspective, representing disability as a desirable identity, empowered subjectivity, and social engagement instead of deficit or disability.